Colorado Elk · GMU 231
Colorado GMU 231 covers 114,119 acres and lies 26 miles south-west of Steamboat Springs and 38 miles north of Gypsum. 64% of it is public land, mostly national forest (61%) and BLM (2%). In 2024, 1,497 people hunted elk here and took 211, a 14% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EM011O1R, put up 3,000 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 1,485 nonresident first-choice applicants.
24 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
61% Forest Service
114,119 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2024. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
- Success
- 14%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 1,030 / 382
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 14%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 1,500 / 230
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 14%
- Season
- Sep 12–20
- Tags / Apps
- 150 / 2
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 14%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 3,000 / 1,485
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 231
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE011P1A Standard · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EE011P1A Youth · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EE011P1R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EE011P1R Youth · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EE025O1M Standard | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 25 | 0% | 1 | |
| EE025O1M Youth | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 25 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE025V1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EE025V1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EE231P2R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 231 | 100% | — | |
| EE231P3R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 231 | 100% | — | |
| EE231P4R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 231 | 100% | — | |
| EF011O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EF011O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EF025O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 25 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF025O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 25 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF025P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF025P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF231O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 231 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF231O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 231 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF231O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 231 | — | — | |
| EM011O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EM011O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EM231O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 231 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EM231O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 231 | 100% (small sample) | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: EE012W1R, EE012W2R, EF012W1R, EF012W2R, EF012W3R, EM011O2R, EM011O3R.
Draw results: CPW 2026 Primary ELK Post Draw Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $974.27 ($129.11 to apply) · Youth $974.27 ($129.11 to apply). Open Mar 1 – Apr 6, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1,497 | 211 | 14% |
| 2023 | 1,767 | 231 | 13% |
| 2022 | 2,206 | 315 | 14% |
| 2021 | 2,240 | 367 | 16% |
2024 split: rifle 118 (56%) from 701 hunters, 17%, archery 87 (41%) from 738 hunters, 12%, muzzleloader 6 (3%) from 58 hunters, 10%
What Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Colorado's figures come from CPW's post-season hunter survey. CPW's 2025 report dropped the per-GMU table in favour of hunt-code rows, so the newest year shown here is 2024. Source: CPW 2024 Statewide Elk Harvest; CPW 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates; CPW 2022 Statewide Elk Harvest.
The Ground
| National Forest | 69,753 ac | 61% |
| Private | 40,979 ac | 36% |
| BLM | 2,073 ac | 2% |
| State land | 1,313 ac | 1% |
Source: Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency.
▸ Sources 10
- CPW 2026 Primary ELK Post Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2026 2 CCR 406-0 Chapter W-0 General… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2026 Big Game Hunting brochure fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2026 web page fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2024 Statewide Elk Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2022 Statewide Elk Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2021 Statewide Elk Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2026 GMU Boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Colorado Parks and Wildlife's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward.
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We don't take applications: check Colorado Parks and Wildlife's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Colorado Parks and Wildlife's results, not a forecast · All Colorado elk hunts